1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle control apparatus, and more particularly, to a vehicle control apparatus and control method thereof that controls a mechanism provided in a vehicle during a vehicle emergency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various vehicle control apparatuses, such as one that performs control to close power windows or a sun roof during an emergency such as a collision, and one that adjusts the seat back angle of a vehicle seat, have been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-178443 (JP-A-2005-178443) proposes a vehicle seat control apparatus that controls a vehicle seat during a vehicle emergency.
The technology described in JP-A-2005-178443 is a vehicle control apparatus that predicts a collision with the rear of the host vehicle and adjusts the seat back to the upright position in response to a prediction signal. Also with the technology described in JP-A-2005-178443, the upright angle of the seat back is adjusted faster when a prediction signal is received than it is when an operation signal from a manual operating portion is received.
However, with the technology in JP-A-2005-178443, once the seat back starts to be adjusted in response to the prediction signal, closed-loop control is performed to adjust the angle of the seat back until it is vertical. As a result, it may be annoying if the seat back operates in a manner unintended by the user, so there is room for improvement.